Solidcore Resources has confirmed that construction of Kazakhstan’s first full-cycle gold concentrate processing facility — the Ertis Hydrometallurgical Plant near Pavlodar — remains on track for completion in the fourth quarter of 2028, with the project’s payback period now estimated at seven to eight years as elevated gold prices dramatically improve the economics of the $978 million investment.
Speaking at the MINEX Kazakhstan 2026 forum in Astana, Solidcore Resources chief executive Vitaly Nesis said construction was proceeding at full pace and that the company was close to signing legally binding financing documentation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. When the project was originally approved by the board, payback was calculated at 12 years based on a gold price of $2,800 per ounce. “At current price levels, taking into account tax increases and tenge strengthening, payback will be around seven to eight years,” Nesis said.
The Ertis plant, with a 30-year project lifespan, will be capable of processing up to 300,000 tonnes of gold-bearing concentrate annually and producing up to 500,000 ounces of gold in doré form per year, with a permanent workforce of up to 500 employees. It will be the first facility of its kind in Kazakhstan, marking a significant step in the country’s push to process its mineral wealth domestically rather than export raw concentrates.
Nesis also commented on a wave of recent consolidation in Kazakhstan’s gold sector. In October 2025, Chinese group Zijin Mining acquired RG Gold — owner of the Raygorodok deposit in Akmola Region — from Bulat Utemuratov for $1 billion. More recently, in late March 2026, entrepreneur Shakhmurat Mutalip, owner of construction company Integra Construction KZ, was reported to have agreed to acquire 100% of Altynalmas, one of Kazakhstan’s three largest gold producers. Nesis said such activity should be welcomed, expressing hope that the deals would lead to more Kazakhstani mining companies listing on the Astana International Exchange.
On Solidcore’s own acquisition plans, Nesis noted that a deal to acquire the Tokhtar gold deposit in northern Kazakhstan has not yet been approved by state authorities and declined to comment further. He did confirm, however, that the company had established subsidiaries in Oman and Tajikistan over the past six months in the hope of securing deals in those markets.
Solidcore Resources, listed on the Astana International Exchange, operates the Bakyrchik deposit in Abai Region and the Varvarinskoye and Komarovskoye deposits in Kostanai Region. In 2024 the company acquired a 55% stake in the rare earth and polymetallic Syrymbет deposit in North Kazakhstan Region for $82.5 million, where subsidiary Tin One Mining plans to commission a mining and processing plant in 2028 at an investment cost of $227.8 million. The company is also reported to be borrowing $100 million in Germany toward EGMK construction and plans to liquidate its gold inventory in the first half of 2026.
